Hoff-Barthelson's Festival Orchestra Concludes Its Season With An All-Beethoven Concert

Hoff-Barthelson Music School's Festival Orchestra closes out its 2021-22 season on Saturday, June 4, 2022, at 7:00 pm at the Recital Hall at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, New York with an all-Beethoven Concert.

Under the direction of Jun Nakabayashi, the orchestra will perform Ludwig van Beethoven's dramatic Coriolan Overture, Op. 62, the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4, Op 58 with guest soloist Spencer Myer, and the magnificent Symphony No. 7, Op. 92.

There is a suggested admission of $20 for adults; Students may attend free of charge. Program and artist subject to change.

Hoff-Barthelson Music School's Festival Orchestra is a full symphonic orchestra for high school students at the highest level of technical ability and musical artistry. Lauded as one of the finest high school orchestras in the United States by the New York State Council on the Arts, the Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Jun Nakabayashi, performs three concerts annually; two are with guest artists of international stature. Members of the Orchestra also participate in sectional coachings with musicians from the New York Philharmonic.

Lauded for "superb playing" and "poised, alert musicianship" by The Boston Globe, and labeled "definitely a man to watch" by London's The Independent, American pianist Spencer Myer is one of the most respected and sought-after artists on today's concert stage.

His career was launched with three important prizes: First Prize in the 2004 UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa, the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association and the Gold Medal from the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition. He is also a laureate of the 2007 William Kapell, 2005 Cleveland and 2005 Busoni international piano competitions.

Spencer Myer has been soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Johannesburg, Cape Town, Boise, Dayton and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestras, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Baton Rouge, Indianapolis, Knoxville, New Haven, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Springfield, Traverse and Tucson Symphony Orchestras, Mexico's Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco and Beijing's China National Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with, among others, conductors Michael Christie, Nicholas Cleobury, Leslie B. Dunner, Robert Franz, Bernhard Gueller, Jacques Lacombe, Jahja Ling, and Timothy Muffitt. His 2005 recital/orchestral tour of South Africa included a performance of the five piano concerti of Beethoven with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, followed by five return orchestra and recital tours. His appearances have been presented in New York City's Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Recital Hall, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center and London's Wigmore Hall, and have been broadcast on WQXR (New York City), WHYY (Philadelphia), WCLV (Cleveland) and WFMT (Chicago).

An enthusiastic supporter of the education of young musicians, Spencer Myer has served as a guest faculty at the Oberlin and Baldwin-Wallace Conservatories of Music, and in the fall of 2015, he was appointed Artist-Teacher of Piano and Collaborative Piano at Boston's Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Since 2017, he has released four CDs on the Steinway & Sons label: Piano Rags of William Bolcom, and three discs with cellist Brian Thornton encompassing repertoire of Brahms, Debussy and Schumann.

He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory, a Master of Music from The Juilliard School and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University. Spencer Myer is a Steinway Artist.

Hoff-Barthelson Music School has achieved national recognition as a premier community music school for its unsurpassed leadership in education, performance, and community service. With a faculty drawn from the region's most talented teachers and performers, Hoff-Barthelson has long been one of Westchester County's most cherished cultural resources. At Hoff-Barthelson, students find a warm, friendly music school dedicated to the highest standards of education, performance, and community service. Students of all ages, aptitudes, and levels of interest enjoy a supportive, joyful learning environment; a focus on the whole person; exceptional teaching; and a multifaceted curriculum.

Hoff-Barthelson Music School is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive George Latimer. Programs are made possible, in part, with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Photo credit: Pianist Spencer Myer to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with Hoff-Barthelson Music School's Festival Orchestra on June 4. Photo by Supatcha Rattanathumawat.

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